Searching for Missing Husbands
by SkyHighFan
Summary: Amelia Novak's search for her missing husband brings her to Daphne Allen, the wife of a missing faith healer searching for her husband as well. One-shot of part of Amelia's search before her capture.


**Author's Note:** I got this idea from the episode Angel Heart when it's revealed that Amelia spent years searching for Jimmy and Castiel. I can't imagine Daphne Allen not searching and given the timeline of Amelia's disappearance (two years before Angel Heart), I think it's possible that they met. This is my attempt to write that meeting. Please read and review even if it's bad. By the way, I don't think we ever got a name for the Allen's home town besides it being in Colorado so I'm not even going to try. Unbeated so any mistakes are mine.

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Searching for Missing Husbands

Amelia had been searching for Castiel for years in hopes of finding her husband Jimmy or information about him with no success. She was aware that it had become an obsession that had consumed her life so much that she had abandoned her own daughter with her mother. However, she felt that Claire was better off somewhere stable than on the road somewhere and always sent her postcards to keep in touch with her.

Amelia's efforts had led her to post pictures of Jimmy everywhere she could think of and search out every faith healer she could find in hopes that one of them was Castiel as she knew an angel would have the power to heal. However, her search was coming up completely empty and she was starting to lose hope that Castiel was even still alive. From the brief time she was possessed, she knew that the demons were trying to bring on the Apocalypse and given all the weird events that had started soon after Jimmy's final disappearance, she knew something big had gone down. For all she knew, Castiel and Jimmy had died during those events fighting to stop the biblical Apocalypse.

Finally, after three years of searching, Amelia got a possible lead: a faith healer in Colorado that seemed to be the real deal. Even if it turned out to be a dead end, Amelia figured that someone with the power of healing had a greater connection to God than most people did and might know something. However, the problem was that the healer had gone missing recently, but Amelia decided to talk to his wife in hopes that she could tell her something.

Reaching the address in Colorado that she had learned the faith healer, Emmanuel Allen lived at; Amelia got out and nervously knocked on the door, desperately hoping that she might finally get some kind of answers. After a few minutes, the door was answered by a woman about Amelia's age who looked at her suspiciously.

"Yes?" asked the woman.

"Are you Daphne Allen?" Amelia asked nervously. "The wife of the healer Emmanuel Allen?"

"What do you want? Emmanuel is missing so he won't be able to help you with whatever healing you want." Daphne went to shut the door.

"Actually, I was hoping I could talk to you about him. See, my husband went missing a few years ago and I was hoping Emmanuel could help me find him," explained Amelia.

"Alright, come in," said Daphne reluctantly. Amelia entered the house to find it in a somewhat of a state of disarray with missing posters all over the place, though with no pictures attached. There was also a lot of religious stuff such as crosses around leaving Amelia with the hope that Daphne would have an open mind about her story about angels and demons.

"Sorry about the mess," said Daphne. "Since Emmanuel went missing, I've been devoting all my time to finding him. Unfortunately he didn't like pictures so I don't have one to go with these posters. Makes it harder to find him. So how can I help you?"

"Like I said, my own husband disappeared a few years ago. I've been searching for him desperately since then. It's kind of a crazy story, but given that your husband had healing powers and you seem to be a religious person, I hope you'll keep an open mind."

"After what I've seen since Emmanuel came into my life, I've been open to a lot of things," Daphne commented. "Go ahead. I'll listen though I can't promise I'll believe you."

"Alright," began Amelia nervously. "Three and a half years ago my husband, Jimmy Novak started experiencing what I thought were delusions. He claimed that an angel was talking to him and started acting erratic, such as putting his hand in a pot of boiling water. I'm a woman of a lot of faith, but I didn't actually believe that he had angels talking to him. Things got to the point where I threatened to leave Jimmy with our daughter, Claire, if he didn't get help. That night he disappeared with no word to me. I would've thought he went to get help, except Claire had seen him leave and from the sounds of it, he'd had a psychotic break. When Claire went to see what he was doing on the porch, Jimmy acted as if he didn't recognize her and told her he wasn't her father, something that left her deeply scarred."

"So you've been searching for him since and hope that if you find him, Emmanuel can heal his psychotic break?" guessed Daphne.

"No," said Amelia. "We eventually stopped looking for him, giving him up as dead. However, nearly a year after he disappeared, Jimmy returned. He claimed that he'd gone off to get help and was finally back. However, I wasn't sure about him after he was gone so long and tried to keep a distance. Jimmy, while he no longer seemed delusional, still acted somewhat weird such as not saying Grace when we ate dinner like he'd always insisted we do before. Soon afterwards, things got stranger when our neighbors, Roger and his wife, came over to visit and Jimmy suddenly attacked them, claiming they were demons. I thought Jimmy was still crazy, but found out he was actually right when Roger took Claire hostage. I thought I was going to watch my daughter die, but these two strange men arrived and killed Roger. The demon possessing his wife fled before they could kill her too, but she later possessed me to continue to try to get at Jimmy. It was _horrible_ being possessed, I had no control and the demon intended to use me to slaughter my whole family because, it turns out, Jimmy had acted as the vessel to the angel Castiel. He hadn't been crazy, he'd been chosen."

"Vessel?" asked Daphne.

"Yeah," Amelia explained. "It's what a person who is possessed by an angel is called. Unlike demons, angels need our permission to possess someone and can only possess certain people without the vessel dying horribly. Jimmy was from a bloodline that was suitable for possession so he was chosen to act as Castiel's vessel on Earth. He was able to return because Castiel suddenly got taken back to Heaven without his vessel. The demons believed that Jimmy might know something important from his time as Castiel's vessel, even if he couldn't consciously remember and hoped to torture it out of him. Even if he didn't they planned to kill him eventually in hopes of depriving Castiel physical form on Earth."

"Wow, that must be amazing, being chosen by an angel," said Daphne.

"Actually while briefly explaining what happened to what he thought was me in the aftermath of the demon attack, Jimmy said that its horrible for the person involved, though less traumatizing than a demon possession. The person has no control of their body, they feel every wound the angel takes and the angel's sheer presence is so intense, Jimmy referred to it as being strapped to a comet. Still, it beats demon possession because of the pure evil of demons."

"I bet," said Daphne sympathetically. After a moment, Amelia continued her story.

"Jimmy decided that for our safety he'd leave with the two men who had rescued us, telling "me" that he'd never be able to be with us again. The demon tried to convince him to come with us instead of the men in hopes of separating him from his protectors, but Jimmy was too committed to the protection of our family and refused. After they left, the demon used me to knock Claire out and called Jimmy to force him to meet to save us, really intending to kill us all. Jimmy walked right into a trap to try to save us; he loved us that much and got shot by the demon possessing me for his efforts. I had to watch as my husband was going to die by my own hands and "I" ordered the murder of my own daughter."

"What about the two men who were with Jimmy? Why didn't they do anything?" asked Daphne.

"They tried, but the demons expected their attempt and caught them. We were all going to die when Claire suddenly broke free and killed the demon who was trying to kill her. Even though I didn't understand at that moment, I found out that Castiel, who had been missing when we needed him the most, had finally arrived to help and was using my twelve-year old daughter to do it."

"My god!" exclaimed Daphne. "That must've been horrible for Claire, being possessed like that."

"It was," admitted Amelia. "Claire told me later that when Castiel approached her for help, he promised he could save her family and only she could help him because as Jimmy's daughter, she was the only other one there he could possess. He didn't put it like that, but that was basically the gist. You see, Jimmy no longer wanted anything to do with Castiel so he couldn't be used as a vessel again unless he agreed. Desperate to save her family, Claire said yes."

"How traumatizing, just from what you told me of what Jimmy told you about angelic possession," said Daphne.

"Yes, when I left, Claire was having nightmares about the possession and the events that led up to it. _I_ still have nightmares about my possession so I can only imagine what it must be like for her. Anyway, Castiel's arrival turned the tide and he and the men killed the other demons and exorcised the one in me. Afterwards, Castiel told Jimmy that it was time for him to go to Heaven and he was now going to use Claire as his vessel."

"What?!" exclaimed Daphne. "Using a young girl like that for a vessel when she only agreed to save her family!"

"I know. Jimmy felt the same way and he offered himself up as a vessel again to save Claire. He wanted nothing more to do with Castiel, but agreed to save our daughter. From what Jimmy and Castiel said about angelic possession, I'm grateful he made that choice: besides being as bad as Jimmy had said, Castiel said that his vessel would never age and never die forever meaning Claire would've been stuck possessed forever. I'd never wish that on anyone. Castiel agreed in the end and repossessed Jimmy. I had to watch my husband leave again and I've never seen him since."

"So you started looking for him?" asked Daphne.

"Yes. I dropped Claire off at my mother's and have been searching ever since. I've found sightings of a man matching Jimmy's description all over since his disappearance, but have never actually been able to catch up to him; I get there long after he's gone. The last sighting I could find was back in May when a man proclaiming himself to be God created miracles across the world and then slaughtered a Senator's campaign office. Given the security video posted on the Internet, it was Castiel, though I can't imagine what would cause him to do that."

"I heard about that, but I never saw any of the video of who caused that. I was always horrified that someone would do something like that in the name of God."

"I know. From what I saw of Castiel and what Claire remembered about her possession of him, that didn't seem like him at all. I think something was influencing him to act like that."

"You said you were hoping Emmanuel could help you find Castiel and your husband?" asked Daphne.

"Yes. Since Castiel is an angel, I figured if he wanted to hide out after the massacre but still perform miracles and help people, he might set himself up as a faith healer for a cover. I've been checking every faith healer I could find, but all of them so far have been fakes. Then I heard about Emmanuel and how he apparently had the true gift of healing and hoped that he was either Castiel or might know where I could find him."

"Well, even if Emmanuel knew your husband, he wouldn't have been much help: he had no memory," explained Daphne.

"Could you tell me about him?" asked Amelia.

"Sure," said Daphne. "It'll be nice to tell this story to someone who can understand. I don't know who Emmanuel really is or even his real name but I loved him. I found him back in May, naked and staggering from a river near here while I was camping. He had no memory but was such a gentle person that I couldn't help but take him in. Emmanuel couldn't remember his name so we chose Emmanuel off a baby names website. He seemed to think it fit him. Over the next several months, we fell in love and decided to get married so that we wouldn't be living in sin. When I fell down the stairs and broke my leg badly, we accidentally discovered he had the gift of healing people when he was able to heal my injury while tending to me without knowing what he was doing. We later discovered that he could heal illnesses as well as injuries and after he learned to control his power, we decided to have him use the power to help those in need of healing. I'd act as the go-between for those who wanted his services, deciding which ones sounded like they needed legitimate help and weren't just looking for an easy fix of their injuries. Emmanuel told me that during one session, he healed a man of blindness in one eye who seemed to be searching him for something. The man had all sorts of weird symbols at his house and we believe he may have thought Emmanuel to be some sort of monster or something. However, to our relief, if this was so, the encounter proved to us that there is nothing evil about him as he walked through every symbol without trouble. Then a few months ago, things changed. A demon attacked our house while Emmanuel was away, looking for him. He wanted to know what Emmanuel was and possibly use him for his own purposes. All I know is he mentioned someone named Crowley would be very interested in Emmanuel's abilities. Luckily for me, he intended to use me as bait and tied me up instead of killing me."

"So how did you escape?" asked Amelia, intrigued by this story.

"I was rescued. A man named Dean came to the house looking for Emmanuel to heal his brother Sam of some kind of mental illness and found the demon instead. However, Dean was prepared for such an encounter and killed the demon. It was just in time too as Emmanuel arrived home right after the demon was killed. We discovered at that point that Emmanuel may have more gifts than just healing as he was able to see the demon's true face, but we never got to explore the possibility as he left with Dean and never returned. I've been searching for him or Dean since as Dean is the last person I know who saw him. I also got the impression by Dean's reaction to Emmanuel that he may have known who or what he really was. He just seemed to kind of recognize him and asked some weird questions, but whatever he knew he kept to himself," finished Daphne.

"Wait Dean and Sam? Is that Dean and Sam Winchester?" asked Amelia.

"I don't know: I never got a last name which makes the search harder. Why?"

"What did Dean look like?" asked Amelia intensely.

"Um, about six-one, dark blonde hair, freckles, green eyes," described the confused Daphne.

"Then that might be Dean Winchester. He and his brother Sam were the ones that rescued Claire, Jimmy and I from that demon attack. I've been looking for clues of them too, but they are reportedly dead twice-over, three times in Dean's case. They were responsible for a cross-country killing spree a few months after the Senate office massacre and were reportedly killed at the end of it. From the sounds of it, both of them are still alive though."

"I wonder what the connection is between Emmanuel and Castiel," said Daphne. "There must be some kind of connection for Dean to have possibly known both of them."

Amelia suddenly had a feeling and pulled out a picture of Jimmy. "This wouldn't be Emmanuel would it?" she asked, barely daring to hope.

"Oh God, that's him! Who is that?" asked Daphne.

"My husband, Jimmy Novak. So now we know why Emmanuel had those powers and who he really is: he's really Castiel. As an angel, Castiel would be able to heal and most likely could see a demon's true face and would definitely have other abilities besides. I myself saw him kill demons with just a touch when he rescued us that night Jimmy disappeared for good as well as burn through ropes. It also explains his connection to Dean Winchester: they clearly knew each other somehow when I last saw the two of them."

"You mean I've been married to an angel all this time?! I guess that would explain Emmanuel's powers and strange behavior at times, but why would he have no memory and then disappear after leaving with Dean?"

"I don't know. Something must've happened after the massacre that caused him to lose his memories but not his powers. From the sounds of it, he may have been believed dead given how long he was missing and Dean recognizing him but apparently not having been searching for him. My guess is he may have somehow regained his memories and went back to his work as an angel. When we met, I could tell that to Castiel his work as an angel was the most important to him. He specifically told Dean that he learned some kind of lesson, that he served Heaven, not humanity or Dean. He may have had to return to his work, possibly not by choice though."

"What do you mean?" asked Daphne hopefully.

"Well, Castiel _was_ dragged back to Heaven for some reason. That's why Jimmy was able to briefly return to us after all. Given his comment to Dean about learning a lesson, he may have meant that he was caring more about humanity than his work and was taught the error of his ways as the other angels may have seen it. That or something else could've happened again."

"Maybe," said Daphne somewhat doubtfully. "What are you going to do now? You finally found a lead on Castiel only to lose him again. Don't think I'm not grateful for learning the truth, it just makes things harder for me, especially the part where my husband was essentially married to someone else."

"Yeah, that's awkward for me too," admitted Amelia. "But as it was Castiel and not Jimmy I don't really think of it as cheating and he had no memory at the time so it's not like he knew better. I'm gonna keep looking; I'm not giving up until I locate my husband, no matter what it takes. If I find him, I'll let you know so you can get some answers too."

"Same here," agreed Daphne. "No matter who or what he is, I still love him and I'm not giving up. I'll let you know if I find anything too."

Shortly afterwards, Daphne and Amelia said goodbye, exchanging phone numbers. Amelia also gave Daphne a copy of the picture of Jimmy to help with her own search.

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For the next year, Amelia kept up her search for her husband and Castiel, visiting more faith healers and following more sightings of Castiel that once again started cropping up. However, the closest she ever got to finding a real lead on him was Daphne Allen and her husband Emmanuel. Then she tried going to faith healer Peter Holloway and things went downhill, leading to her eventual reunion with Castiel, Claire and later Jimmy two years later…

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**Author's Note 2:** And we all know what happens after she goes to Holloway, aka Tamiel.


End file.
